Thou chidest me, my mother, Yet thy words are soft and mild, And amid thick tears of sorrow, You bless your erring child. Thou cheerest me, my mother, Since the grave has held thee, mother, Spring's flowers have bloomed and withered, And I have walked with spirit sad, And felt their joy was not for me, I have felt alone, deserted, In a world both dark and drear, Yet, mother, now I'll nerve myself And be thy spirit o'er me, With a meek and holy power, Be o'er me in my hour of joy, Be o'er me in my hour of strife, I leave thy grave, my mother, And when a few more flowers shall bloom, And summer suns shall shine, They'll bear me to this narrow house, And lay my head by thine. Then my freed spirit, mother, DOUBT NOT. BY J. M. KNOWLTON. When the day of life is dreary, And when gloom thy course enshrouds- Striving still, and onward pressing, Keep not thou thy soul regretting, His fond eye is watching o'er thee His strong arm shall be thy guard— It shall lead to thy reward. Hope thou on a little longer! Doubt not! joy shall come at last! J. S. QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. (In the following record of events will be found many interesting particulars which it was impossible to insert elsewhere; among them are judicial decisions-accounts of telegraphs-improvements in art and science--cholera, weather, &c., with many incidents interesting to the general reader.) DECEMBER, 1848. Dec. 1st. Bond's comet visible between Epsilon and Zeta Cygni. A severe snow storm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cholera in New York. The ship New York, Captain Lines, arrived in twenty-two days from Havre, with 328 steerage, and 17 cabin passengers. She had a fine run to the neighbourhood of Cape Sable, but was there delayed by light winds. On the fourteenth day out, a case of sickness called cholera, appeared among the steerage passengers, and at the time of her arrival here, there had been nineteen cases, of which some had proved fatal. Two or three also deceased after they were landed at quarantine. In all six died. It was pronounced cholera by the health officer and Board of Health. 2d. The Mexican minister was formally received and recognised by the President. The minister made a speech highly complimentary to the Americans; he rejoiced that hostilities were ended between the two countries, and hoped that the friendly relations now existing would continue, concluding with an assurance that his government would observe the treaty in good faith. The President replied, in a short speech, proffering continued friendship and respect for Mexico, and rejoicing in the restoration of peace. The California mania raging in New York, Baltimore, and Boston; hundreds are preparing to start for the gold region on the Pacificvery little excitement as yet in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia the robbers of the Chester county bank, John Thompson, alias "Tobacco Jack," and John Whitehouse, or "Old Duke," were sentenced to pay a fine of $10,000 each, and to three years' imprisonment. The robbery was considered one of the most. daring and flagrant kind. An awful and fatal disaster occurred on board an Irish steamer which left Sligo on the 1st December, with 150 emigrant passengers on board. A heavy gale came on towards night, and these passengers were driven below and crowded together into the narrow compass of the fore cabin, only eighteen feet long, eleven broad, and seven high. The companion, the only aperture, was closed, and a piece of tarpaulin nailed over it. The scene that ensued in the cabin is described by the survivors of that dreadful night as being horrible and heart-rending in the extreme. Their cries were unheard by the seamen, who were directing the steamer through the tempest, but who seemed to have taken no thought of the consequences that were the inevitable result of such inhuman and reckless conduct. One passenger at length broke his way out, and described the condition of those below. The mate attempted to descend, but his light was extinguished by the foul air-at length the partition was broken away, and the real nature of the catastrophe exhibited. There lay, in heaps, the living, the dying, and the dead, one frightful mass of mingled agony and death, a spectacle enough to appal the stoutest heart. Men, women, and children, were huddled together, blackened with suffocation, distorted by convulsions, bruised and bleeding from the desperate struggles for existence, which preceded the moment when exhausted nature resigned the strife. After some time the living were separated from the dead, and it was then found that the latter amounted to nearly one-half of the entire number. The scene, on entering the steerage of the steamer, was perhaps as awful a spectacle as could be witnessed. Seventy-two dead bodies of men, women, and children, lay piled indiscriminately over each other, four deep, all presenting the ghastly appearance of persons who had died in the agonies of suffocation; very many of them covered with the blood which had gushed from the mouth and nose, or had flowed from the wounds inflicted by the trampling of nail-studded brogues, and by the frantic violence of those who struggled for escape-for it was but too evident that, in that struggle, the poor creatures had torn the clothes from off each other's backs, and even the flesh from each other's limbs. We are not informed what punishment has been inflicted on the authors of this frightful calamity, equalled only by the brutal outrage committed many years ago in the "Black Hole" of Calcutta. The first and second mates are said to have been arrested for manslaughter. The Emperor Ferdinand, of Austria, abdicated the throne in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph, whose father, the arch-duke Francis Charles, had resigned his claims. Ferdinand was born 19th April, 1793, and has reigned thirteen years. The present emperor was born 18th August, 1830, and is therefore in his nineteenth year. The Guerilla war in Spain was still carried on by the Carlist chief Cabrera, who was near Barcelona at the head of 800 men. 3d. Off Cape Look-out, at half-past 2 o'clock on Sunday morning, the steamship Columbus came in collision with the schooner Mission, of Edenton, N. C. The schooner was perceived by the watch on board the Columbus, and fearing a collision, her engine was stopped and reversed, but the schooner being on a wind, and not seeing the steamer, sailed direct under her bow; the wind having just hauled from south-east to north-west, and a heavy sea running at the time, the bow of the Columbus riding over the bulwarks of the schooner, sunk her almost instantly. The Mission was from Rum Key, eight days, loaded with salt, for Edenton, N. C. Captain John Cobb, and son, twelve years old; T. G. Doubty, mate; James Chatham and Joseph Brown, seamen; and P. M. Gordon, cook, all of and near Edenton, were lost. 4th. The Supreme Court of the United States commenced its sitting in the basement story of the capitol, at 12 o'clock, M. Chief Justice Taney would not probably be in attendance until Wednesday, but was expected at that time. Justice Wayne was likewise absent. The following constituted the quorum present: Justice M'Lane, of Ohio, Both houses of congress convened at the capitol, and organized for the transaction of business. In the absence of Vice President Dallas, Senator Atchison presided. Mr. Winthrop, Speaker of the House, called it to order. The credentials of the delegate from the new territory of Minesota were presented. A patent was obtained by Mr. Bain for telegraphing a line has been projected from New York to Boston and Halifax, on which it is to be used, under the direction of Mr. O'Reilly. A serious riot occurred at Baltimore at a ball given by the Patapsco Riflemen. During the evening an attack was made upon the party by a fire company. Several persons were seriously wounded. During the attack some of the assailants penetrated the passage, and succeeded in turning off the meter which supplied the ball room with gas, leaving them instantly in total darkness. The screams of the females, of whom there were about a hundred present, the firing of pistols, and throwing of bricks by the assailants, together with their shouts and imprecations, made up a scene scarcely to be described. 5th. The President sent to congress his annual message. Extraordinary Telegraphic feat. For the purpose of testing the availability of the lightning line, Messrs. O'Reilly of the Atlantic and Lake Telegraph company, and H. J. Rogers, of the American Telegraph company, stationed their most experienced operators on the |